freelancer

noun

free·​lanc·​er ˈfrē-ˌlan(t)-sər 

plural freelancers

1

: a person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any one employer : freelance sense 1

hired a freelancer to write the article

… there were hundreds of photographers on the scene, some on assignment, some freelancers, most of them amateurs.

—Garrison Keillor

But while Renzo is the ultimate company man, a lifetime employee who reports to the same office every morning, Riccardo is the prototypical freelancer, a peripatetic problem-solver with five-dozen clients.

—Bruce Schoenfeld

2

: a person who acts independently without being affiliated with or authorized by an organization : freelance sense 2b

[Anthony] Grafton contrasts public intellectuals outside and inside the universities, and he takes note of today's nostalgia for the freethinkers who lived and wrote independently of deans and classrooms. But it is good to be reminded that in that golden era of freelancers such as Wilson, H. L. Mencken, and Mary McCarthy, voices like theirs were also raised in universities.

—G. W. Bowersock

Examples of freelancer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For example, relying on a few freelancers to augment your content marketing may be more cost-efficient than an internal team. —John Hall, Forbes.com, 15 June 2025

Arizona Republic Subscribe to hear this story In an employment market in which job options are plentiful, many people are choosing to work for themselves as freelancers or contractors. —Russ Wiles, USA Today, 13 June 2025

Most employees pay their taxes on the annual deadline every April, but freelancers, gig workers, small business owners and anyone else earning money that hasn't been subject to federal withholdings may have to submit quarterly payments four times a year. —Aliss Higham, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 June 2025

Both the book series and the game focus on Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher — or monster hunter — traveling through various countrysides and kingdoms as a combination bounty hunter–slash–freelancer. —Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 3 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1924, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for freelancer

• enhancer
• merganser
• romancer
• anser
• answer
• cancer
• dancer
• lancer
• anticancer
• necromancer